ise - recruitment survey 2021 - questionnaire

Recruitment Survey 2021

This survey explores your organisation’s experience of recruitment over the last year. We are looking for one response from each employer. This data will allow ISE to provide you with up to data information on the whole student employment market.

Please answer this survey as accurately as possible. We recognise that some of your answers may be approximate or estimates. This is fine.

If you don’t know the answer to a particular question and are unable to make an estimate, please skip it.

Depending on how much information you have to hand you may find that you need to talk to some other people in your organisation before you fill it in. We would recommend you look through the PDF or use a Word document to collate the information. If you have all of the information to hand it will take you between 15-45 minutes to complete the survey.

No organisation will be identified in the results. Data collected through this survey will be analysed for ISE research publications, blogs and articles and provided in an aggregate way in response to member and stakeholder queries. The raw data will be stored securely and only be available to ISE staff.

Any queries about the survey or wider research please contact [email protected]

Q1 Do you agree to participate in the ISE annual recruitment survey 2021?

Yes

No

Q2 Name

Q3 Email

Q4 Employer

Q5 What is the main sector that your organisation operates in?

Built environment

Charity & Public sector

Digital & IT

Energy, Engineering & Industry

Finance & Professional services

Health & Pharmaceuticals

Legal

Retail, FMCG & Tourism

Q6 How many people does your organisation employ in the UK (approximately)?

1-10 employees

11-50 employees

51-250 employees

251-1000 employees

1001-10,000 employees

10,000 + employees

Recruitment strategy and resources

Q7 How many people (FTEs) are employed in your recruitment team or function (excluding contractors)?

Q8 Approximately what was your total budget for recruiting entry-level staff (graduates, interns and placement students, apprentices and school and college leavers) during the 2020/2021 recruitment season?

Q9 Approximately what proportion of this budget do you spend on...

Attraction & marketing

Selection & assessment

Offers & keep warm activities

Other

Q10 Indicate how far you agree with the following statements

It has become harder to recruit the quality of students that we need since the pandemic.

Strongly disagree Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree Agree

Strongly agree

Our approach to student recruitment is mostly (more than 50%) virtual

We are recruiting students on the basis that they will work from home most (more than 50%) of the time.

We do not require student hires to live near to where they work.

Graduates

Q11 Do you recruit graduates?

Yes

No

Q12 Approximately how many applications did you receive for graduate roles…

In 2019/2020?

In 2020/2021?

Q13 How many graduates...

Did you recruit in 2019/2020?


Do you plan to recruit in 2021/2022 [approximately]?

Q14 Approximately how many graduates were recruited to work in the following regions or parts of the world (in the 2020/2021 season).

London

South East

South West

East of England

East Midlands

West Midlands

North West

Yorkshire and Humberside

North East

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Europe

Rest of the world

Q15 What roles did you recruit graduates for during the 2020/2021 recruitment season? [Tick all that apply]

We recruit to a general (non-role specific) programme

Accountancy and audit

Advertising, marketing, PR and media

Built environment

Consultancy

Design and creative

Engineering

Financial management

General business and administration

General management

Health, medical and social care

Human resources (HR) and recruitment

Investment banking

IT (programming and development)

IT (general)

Legal

Sales, customer management and business development

Science and research

Skilled trades

Teaching, training and other educational roles

Technical and analytical roles

Don’t know / Can’t answer

Other

If you answered 'Other' please provide further details

Q16 Are there any roles that you found it difficult to recruit graduates for during the most recent recruitment season?

We did not find it difficult to recruit to any roles



Built environment

Consultancy

Design and creative

Engineering



General management



Investment banking


IT (general)

Legal



Skilled trades




Other


Q17 Are you able to recruit the quality of graduates you want (in terms of them having the skills, knowledge and behaviours that your business needs)?

Almost always

Often

Sometimes

Seldom

Never

Q18 What are your minimum entry requirements for graduates? [Tick all that apply]

No minimum entry requirements

2:1 degree

2:2 degree

Specific subject degree(s)

Relevant work experience

Minimum UCAS tariff or A level grades

Postgraduate degree

Other


Q19 What proportion (%) of your graduate positions did you fill in 2020/2021?

Q20 What proportion (%) of the offers you made to graduates in 2020/2021 were… [This should sum to 100%]

Accepted?

Rejected?

Reneged?

Deferred?

Other?

Q21 Which apprenticeship levels do you typically enroll graduates onto?[Tick all that apply]

We do not enroll graduates onto apprenticeships

Intermediate (level 2)

Advanced (level 3)

Higher (level 4)

Higher (level 5)

Degree (level 6)

Masters degree (level 7)

Q22 What proportion (%) of your 2020/2021 graduate programme will be/have been enrolled on an apprenticeship? (e.g. enrolled on a level six or seven apprenticeship in management or accountancy).

Q23 What is the average annual starting salary for a graduate in your organisation?

Q24 Do you pay a different average annual starting salary for graduates depending on the region in which they are based?

Yes

No

We only employ graduates in one region

Q25 What is the average annual starting salary for a graduate in your organisation in the following regions and parts of the world?

London

South East

South West

East of England

East Midlands

West Midlands

North West


North East

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Europe

Rest of the world

School and college leavers

This section asks you about the school and college leavers that you hire as well as other types of non-graduate hires. This includes all non-graduate hires who you consider to be entry-level including new hires starting on an apprenticeship programme.

Q26 Do you recruit school and college leavers and other non-graduate entry-level hires?

Yes

No

Q27 Approximately how many applications did you receive for school and college leaver and other entry-level non-graduate roles…

In 2019/2020?

In 2020/2021?

Q28 Approximately how many school and college leaver and other entry-level non-graduate roles …



Do you plan to recruit in 2021/2022?

Q29 Approximately how many school and college leaver and other entry-level non-graduate roles were recruited to work in the following regions or parts of the world (in the 2020/2021 season)?

London

South East

South West

East of England

East Midlands

West Midlands

North West


North East

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Europe

Rest of the world

Q30 What roles did you recruit school and college leaver and other entry-level non-graduates for during the 2020/2021 recruitment season? [Tick all that apply]

We recruit to a general (non-role specific) programme



Built environment

Consultancy Design and creative

Engineering



General management



Investment banking


IT (general)

Legal



Skilled trades




Other


Q31 Are there any roles that you found it difficult to recruit school and college leavers and other entry-level non-graduates for during the 2020/2021 recruitment season?



Built environment

Consultancy

Design and creative

Engineering



General management



Investment banking IT (programming and development)

IT (general)

Legal



Skilled trades




Other


Q32 Are you able to recruit the quality of school and college leaver and other entry-level non-graduate roles you want (in terms of them having the skills, knowledge and behaviours that your business needs)?

Almost always

Often

Sometimes

Seldom

Never

Q33 What proportion (%) of your school and college leaver and other entry-level non-graduate roles did you fill in 2020/2021?

Q34 What proportion (%) of the offers you made to school and college leavers and other entry-level non-graduates in 2020/2021 were… [This should sum to 100%]

Accepted?

Rejected?

Reneged?

Deferred?

Other?

Q35 Which apprenticeship levels do you typically enroll school and college leavers and other non-graduate level hires onto. [Tick all that apply]

We do not enroll school and college leavers onto apprenticeships

Intermediate (level 2)

Advanced (level 3)

Higher (level 4)

Higher (level 5)

Degree (level 6)

Masters degree (level 7)

Q36 What proportion (%) of your 2020/2021 school and college leavers and other entry-level non-graduates are/will be enrolled on an apprenticeship?

Q37 What is the average annual starting salary for a school and college leaver or other entry-level non-graduate in your organisation?

Q38 Do you pay a different average annual starting salary for school and college leavers or non-graduates depending on the region in which they are based?

Yes

No

We only employ school and college leavers in one region

Q39 What is the average annual starting salary for an entry-level non-graduate in your organisation in the following regions and parts of the world?

London

South East

South West

East of England

East Midlands

West Midlands

North West


North East

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Europe

Rest of the world

Interns and placement students

This section asks you about your interns and placement students. We define ‘interns’ as short term (less than six months), temporary hires (e.g. students that you recruit for a summer vacation). We define ‘placement students’ as longer term (typically six months to a year) temporary hires (e.g. students who work for you as part of a sandwich degree, year in industry or gap year).

Q40 Do you recruit interns or placement students?

Yes

No

Q41 During 2020/2021 how did you offer the following types of work experience?

Internships

Mainly face-to-face Hybrid Mainly virtual Did not offer

Placements

Other types of work experience

Q42 Looking forward to 2021/2022 how will you offer the following types of work experience?

Internships

Mainly face-to-face Hybrid Mainly virtual Will not offer

Placements

Other types of work experience

Q43 Approximately how many applications did you receive for internships…

In 2019/2020?

In 2020/2021?

Q44 Approximately how many applications did you receive for placements…

In 2019/2020?

In 2020/2021?

Q45 Approximately how many interns…




Q46 Approximately how many placement students…




Q47 What is the average annual starting salary for an intern or placements student in your organisation? [Give as an annual equivalent salary]

Q48 What proportion (%) of your former interns or placement students did you recruit into graduate jobs during the 2020/2021 season?

Q49 Are you more likely to recruit former interns or placements students if they have had face-to-face or virtual work experience?

We prefer face-to-face work experience

We have no preference about how the work experience is gained.

We prefer virtual work experience

We do not take work experience into account

Don’t know

Q50 Do you offer any targeted internships or placements for any diversity groups?

Yes

No

Q51 What groups do you offer targeted internships or placements for?

Disabled students

Ethnic minority students

Gay, lesbian and bisexual students

Lower socio-economic background students

Neurodiverse students

Students from particularly religion and belief groups

Transgender and intersex students

Women

Other

Attraction and marketing

Q52 When did you run your 2019/2020 graduate recruitment campaign?

Opened campaign

Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep

Made the most offers

Closed campaign

Q53 When did you run your 2019/2020 school and college leaver recruitment campaign?

Opened campaign

Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep

Made the most offers

Closed campaign

Q54 Do you have recruitment targets or benchmarks relating to particular diversity strands? [Tick all that apply]

No

Disability

Gender

Neurodiversity

Race / ethnicity

Religion and belief

Sexual orientation

Socio-economic background

Transgender and intersex

Other


Q55 What attraction and marketing activities did you use in 2020/2021? [Tick the modes through which you delivered this activity]

None

Print Face-to-face Virtual

Campus rep/ambassadors

Careers fairs

Company information

Contributing to the curriculum

Job adverts

Giving talks and workshops

Insight/open days

Managing your presence on ratings sites e.g. Glassdoor or Rate My Placement

Social media marketing

Supporting student societies and events

Emails and mailings to students

Used an apprenticeship training provider to do the recruitment

Via your existing staff

Visits to schools and colleges

Visits to universities

Other


Q56 What attraction and marketing activities did you find most effective in generating applications from candidates in 2019/2020[Tick up to three options]

None


Campus rep/ambassadors

Careers fairs

Company information

Contributing to the curriculum

Job adverts

Giving talks and workshops

Insight/open days

Managing your presence on ratings sites e.g. Glassdoor or Rate My Placement

Social media marketing

Supporting student societies and events

Emails and mailings to students

Used an apprenticeship training provider to do the recruitment

Via your existing staff

Visits to schools and colleges

Visits to universities

Other


Q57 How many educational institutions did you visit or work with during 2020/2021?

Schools and sixth forms

Further education colleges

Universities

Other

Q58 In 2020/2021 what approaches to your student attraction and marketing did you take to maximise diversity?

None

Delivered more activities in schools

Changed the universities visited

Commissioned a specialist agency to improve the diversity of our attraction and marketing.

Ensured diverse campus representatives

Ran outreach events

Tailored marketing materials/methods

Targeted particular groups

Used targeted social media advertising

Worked with advocacy groups or student societies

Increased the number of apprentices that we were recruiting

Other


Recruitment and selection

Q59 What overall methodology underpins your selection and assessment approach as… [tick all that apply]

Strengths based

Values based

Technical

Other


Q60 What selection and assessment activities did you use in 2020/2021?

None


Assessment centres

Application forms

Case studies

CVs

Data analysis exercises

Email inbox exercises

Interviews

Gamified assessments

Group presentations

Psychometric tests

Role play activities

Skills tests

Virtual reality assessments

Other


Q61 What psychometric tests do you use? [Tick all that apply]

Do not use psychometrics

Critical reasoning /logical reasoning

Learning agility

Numerical reasoning

Personality/motivation questionnaires

Situational judgement tests

Spatial reasoning

Strengths-based assessment

Verbal reasoning

Other


Q62 What selection and assessment activities did you find to be most effective in the first stage of your process to narrow the field? [Tick up to three options]

None


Assessment centres

Application forms

Case studies

CVs



Interviews


Group presentations

Psychometric tests


Skills tests


Other


Q63 What selection and assessment activities did you find to be most effective for making your final decision about who to hire? [Tick up to three options]

None


Assessment centres

Application forms

Case studies

CVs



Interviews


Group presentations

Psychometric tests


Skills tests


Other


Q64 In 2020/2021 what approaches did you take in your recruitment and selection approach to maximise diversity?

None

Analysed the outcome of previous campaigns to understand diversity

Commissioned a specialist agency to improve the diversity of our recruitment and selection.

Diversity monitoring

Engaged more diverse assessor groups

Near-miss scheme (to take in candidates who just missed the pass mark)

Name blind recruitment

Offered financial support for candidates to travel to selection events

Provided coaching and support for applicants

Removed some pre-entry criteria e.g. degree classification

Simplified or re-ordered selection stages

Reviewed selection approach with internal staff groups

Trained staff involved in selection in diversity and unconscious bias

University blind recruitment

Used contextualised screening or selection approaches

Other


The future

Q65 Indicate how far you agree with the following statements.

Over the next five years…

Our recruitment processes will be mainly virtual

Strongly disagree Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree Agree

Strongly agree

We will automate a greater proportion of our recruitment activities

We will drop qualification requirements and move to ‘qualification blind’ recruitment.

We will rebalance our entry-level recruitment away from graduates and towards school and college leavers.

An increasing number of our entry-level staff be based at home rather than in the office.

Q66 Which of the following strands does your organisation need to address over the next five years to ensure a diverse and representative workforce?

None

Disability

Gender

Neurodiversity

Race / ethnicity

Religion and belief

Sexual orientation

Socio-economic background

Transgender and intersex

Other


Q67 Do you anticipate that in the next five years you will find it more difficult than you currently do to recruit to any of these roles?

No



Built environment

Consultancy

Design and creative

Engineering



General management



Investment banking IT (programming and development)

IT (general)

Legal



Skilled trades



Don’t know

Other

If you answered 'Other' please provide more detail

Q68 Do you believe that in the next five years any of the following issues will change the volume of students that you recruit?

Automation and artificial intelligence

Recruit less No change Recruit more

Brexit

Change of government

Covid-19

Economic recession

Environmental change

Gig economy

Immigration changes

Less young people (demographic dip)

Scottish independence / Break up of the UK

Technological changes

Other

If you answered 'Other' please provide more detail

Final thoughts

Q69 Do you have any other thoughts that you would like to share about your student recruitment?

Thank you

Thank you for participating.

We will be publishing the results of this survey as a report, blogs and other content on the ISE website at https://ise.org.uk/

No identiying information about any organisations will be published.

ise - recruitment survey 2021 - questionnaire

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